Apparatus for controlling roll contours



Jan. 15, 1935. E, M. CHANDLER APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING ROLL CONTOURSFiled. April 8, 1931 TTORNEY Patented Jan. 15, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENTorrica APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING ROLL OONTOURS Edward M. Chandler,Alcoa, '1enn., assignor to Aluminum Company of America, Pittsburgh,

Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania This invention relates to an improvedapparatus for accurately controlling the contours of rolling mill rollsto retain the contours of rolls in the parallelism which is essential inthe production' of material of uniform gauge.

Deflection in the rolls and'friction resulting from roll neck bearingsand variations in the thickness of materials being rolled are for themost part responsible for the non-uniform contours in rolling millrolls. To compensate for P deflection, it is customary to employ crownedrolls, whereas the diiferences in the diameter of rolls because ofunequal temperatures derived from friction causes are usuallycompensated for by applying heat or a cooling liquid to various portionsoi the rolls. These methods are open to considerable objection in thatit is dimcult to accurately determine the amount of crowning necessary,and to restrict temperature changes of rolls to the desired portionsthereof.

It is the object of this invention to provide an improved apparatuswhereby the contours of rolling mill rolls can be controlled through theapplication of pressure at predetermined portions of the rolls bypressure means disposed longitudinally thereof,

A further object of the invention is to provide an apparatus foraccurately controlling the contours of rolling mill rolls by pressuremeans which will not interfere with the practical operation of the millor produce any deleterious eii'ect on the material produced.

In carrying out my inventionJ may employ as a pressure means a sectionalbut! such as illustrated in the accompanying drawing, but it will beunderstood that this mechanism is by way of illustration, and otherconvenient means of accomplishin'g the results herein described may beemployed.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 represents a cross sectional elevation of a sectional bui! asadapted to a rolling mill;

Fig. 2 represents a top plan view of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 represents a view taken in the direction of the arrows III-III inFig. 2.

The sectional but! is constructed from a plurality oi! individualpressure applying shoes or blocks arranged in a suitable housingsupported between the housings of a rolling mill in a manner so thatpressure may be applied at individual points across the width of theroll.

As shown in the drawing, the sectional bufl comprises a channel shapedhousing 10 within which are movably mounted a plurality of pressureapplying shoes or blocks 11 arcuately formed on their under surfaces toconform with the curved surface of the mill roll and embrace a bufilngcloth 12 therebetween. The buihns cloth 12 is supported on a bar or rod13 mounted in lugs 14 welded or otherwise attached to a flange of thehousing 10 in such manner that the roll exerts adrag on the bufllngcloth.

The blocks 11, which may be made of wood, gum, or of some other suitablematerial or composition, have roll engaging faces formed at obliqueangles to their ends to eliminate any possibility of the formation ofridges on the roll surface, and are mounted upon the flexible springsteel strip 15.

Suitably attached, as by welding, to the upper surface or web of thechannel housing 10 is a plate 16 upon which are formed bosses l'lequalin number to and disposed centrally over blocks 11. These bosses 17 areprovided with threaded holes through which pressure applying screws 18are threaded. Aligning and securing pins 19,-flanges 20 of which, incombination with the aforementioned spring steel plate 15, form alooking 'or securing means, are vertically mounted in blocks 11- andextend through the web of the housing chamnel 10 where they are providedwith cotter pins 21 which limitthe movement of the blocks 11 rela= .tiveto the housing 10.

,of the pins 19.

The housing 10 with its various elements ad- Justably mounted therein issupported in proper relationship with the rolling mill roll by means oi.angle brackets 24, shown to best advantage in Fig. 3, which areattached, as by bolts 32, to the riders'33'in which the rollgbearingsare supported. A rigid connection between the brackets 24 and thesectional bufl housing 10 is accomplished by means of the knurled headedbolts 25 threaded through the brackets 24. These bolts are of theshouldered type having reduced diameter portions 28 which projectthrough slots 27 formed in the upper portion or web of the housing 10.Suitable washers 28 and nuts 29 threaded on the reduced diameterportions of bolts 25 complete the connection. The cut away portions 30in the housing flange allow nuts 29 to be readily applied,

and the lugs 31, extending from the brackets 24 A projecting into thehousing 10 and bearing against plied in varying degrees to separateportions of the roll face through the medium of the back-up plates 23,the resilient pads 22, and the blocks 11. The back-up plates serve todistribute the pressure over the entire surface of each individual block11 and the resilient pads 22 insure a yielding contact of the blocks 11with the bufling cloth 12 in contact with the roll surface.

.In practical operation, the contour of the roll, to which the sectionalbuff has been adapted, can be accurately controlled by increasing ordecreasing the pressure at desired points over the roll surface. Bythese pressure changes, the friction of the buff on the roll is eitherincreased or decreased, with the result that the roll temperature and,consequently, the roll contour may be accurately controlled. Althoughthe buff has been shown as applied to one roll, it is quite applicableto all of the rolls contained in the mill.

Whilemy improved apparatus for controlling the contours of rolling millrolls has been illustrated and described with reference to a particulardevice, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limitedthereto as the same may be practiced in various other ways withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a roll contour-controlling apparatus, a housing adjustably mountedadjacent a rolling mill roll, a bufllng cloth supported by said housingin contact with said roll, a plurality of pressure-applying shoesdisposed within said housing, said pressure-applying shoes having anarcuate- 1y formed face in contact with said bufilng cloth, a flexiblesteel strip attached to said pressure-applying shoes, means for aligningand movably securing said pressure-applying shoes relative to saidhousing and roll, and independent means for controlling the pressureexerted by each pressureapplying shoe.

2. In a roll contour-controlling apparatus, a plurality of individualpressure-applying shoes, a flexible steel strip attached to one face ofsaid pressure-applying shoes, the opposite face thereof being curved toconform with a roll in a rolling mill, a housing for saidpressure-applying shoes, aligning and securing pins extending from saidpressure-applying shoes through said housing, said pins being providedwith stop elements limiting the movement of the pressure-applying shoesrelative to the housing, independent pressure-applying means extendinginto said housing, resilient pads and rigid pressure plates disposedbetween said independent pressure-applying means and saidpressure-applying shoes, said independent pressure-applying meansproviding means for applying a variable pressure along the length of arolling mill roll.

EDWARD M. CHANDLER.

